Despite promises by two MECs, the Jeppe Street provincial clinic in inner city Johannesburg is still not open for patients although the renovations have nearly been completed.
I discovered this when I visited the clinic yesterday to see whether it was ready for patients by 15 October as promised by Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo.
The clinic was closed for repairs in April this year following my visit which exposed the terrible damp and smelly mold on the walls that was making staff sick.
This poor condition was despite R2 million spent on previous contractors to fix the clinic a few years ago.
Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa said that the clinic would be fixed and reopen on 1 October, but I found that the staff were there to prepare the clinic for patients who will only be treated next week.
The main section of the clinic is now filled with boxes of files on the benches.
About 2500 patients a month have been severely inconvenienced because they were diverted to the Hillbrow Community Health Centre for treatment.
I did find that the clinic has been nicely repainted and the terrible mould has been removed. Click here and here for the before photos, and click here and here for the after photos.
I hope that the roof has been properly repaired this time and the mold does not reappear.
Repair and maintenance of hospitals and clinics is a weak point that needs to be improved as soon as possible.
The DA has prioritised healthcare services with the DA-led City of Johannesburg piloting a project whereby a number of clinics which will be open 24/7 to serve the city’s residents. In 2019, a DA –led Gauteng Government will work to ensure that the province has a functioning national health system that takes care of all South Africans.